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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry I've not updated in a bit. first personal life became crazy then I became very ill. I'n fact I'm still not 100% but since i feel nearly 60% I thought I'd update.
Lost and Found

The next few days passed without incident. Buffy and Spike patrolled as usual, although the number of attacks grew each night, so did word that the two seemed to be unstoppable.

Each night before and after patrol they stopped by Quinton's office and Spike listened for a tell tale heartbeat. Each night it was there.

In their off time, Spike was busy teaching Buffy a few of the not so moral tricks he had learned in 100 years. Two in particular were practiced over and over again, until the skills came naturally.

Dawn and Michelle met every morning after the second bell. Michelle's place was the teens central meeting place, a simple demon hunter in training’s home. All things were done low key so as not to attract attention, and with Michelle's mother off on assignment in brazil , she never had to worry for explanations as to the conversations taking place in her home .

Dawn was a fore figure for the children looking for information, and to those who simply believed the things going on.

Very few of the adolescent population was left out. Those who were, wondered what was going on with the others, but when it seemed to center around The Slayer and her disgusting Vampire, made it clear they didn't wish to be involved.

With the members of The Jr. Scoobies in place, finding The Diary of Catrine had taken little time. She was the only known Slayer to be turned, information provided by one of Richard‘s friends. The year was 998, and the Vampire was The Master of the line of Arelius at the time. All of the pieces were falling together, all but one. There was a key, and although only Michelle, Christian and Richard knew who the key was... everyone was trying to find it's use, and where it fit. Nothing could be found.

~~`~~

"Time." The voice called.

Spike turned his head to the side. He was enjoying the feel of the sun's bright rays on his now tanned, and slightly freckled skin. "Time for what?" He sat himself up to get a better view of he grey creature standing above him.

She remained covered in the skins of many colors, but she was no longer the Vampire he had first seen. Her bald head was now covered in spines, She slumped rather than stood, and her voice was rough and almost inaudible. "Time, the gift."

He reached into a pocket of the duster lying next to him, and pulled out his lighter and cigarettes. "I was wondering when that'd come up."

"You have seen the sisters. The one's that promised love." She stated.

Spike took a long drag off his smoke. "Oh yea, don't remember it, but turned out nicely." He watched the smoke waft up as he exhaled.

The creature crouched down next to him. Her face was mere inches away. "You have not completed Akoshta."

Spike cocked his head. "They sent me back, all undead and walkin'. Even got a little note to let me know I passed."

She drew herself back up into her slumped standing position. "T'mure..."

Spike rolled over in the field, and landed hard on the floor of his bedroom with a thump. "Oh bloody…” He tried to untangle the sheet from his legs while he yelled at his empty bedroom. “You know, you could tell me something a little more 'elpful!"

~~`~~

Randall walked into the laboratory, his notepad in hand. "Doctor, have you anything to report?"

The slender man in a white lab coat, sat up from his microscope. "I'm not sure. "The on staff Physician pulled up a folder and leafed through the papers.

Randall looked the man squarely in the eyes. "What do you mean? Have you found any significant changes in the Slayer's bloodstream or not?"

The man looked back at his employer. "Sir, if I said I found something, but that it made absolutely no sense, would that qualify?"

Randall's face filled with puzzlement. "What exactly do you mean?"

The doctor handed Randall the papers, and began explaining his findings.

~~`~~

Quinton stood up as Randall entered his office. "What was so urgent?"

"Sir. I am at a loss. The Doctors' findings are perplexing. Never have I heard of such a... a…”

Quinton took the folder from Randall, and read through the doctor's report. He read over the results once more, and although his reaction was unclear a measure of disappointment was visible. "It's embarrassing. Did the doctor have an explanation for the count being so low?"

"No, just that The Slayer blood in her might be fighting against the foreign material." Randall tried to explain.

The young watcher began pacing the length of the room and rambled. "How could she be, there is no way we wouldn't have known, and what do we do with her?"

Quinton came around his desk, leaned against it and set the folder down behind him. "A plan has already been set in motion. If all goes well, this won't be a problem in a week’s time."

"Shouldn't we take, precautions?"

Quinton watched his protégé pace. The young man may not be able to handle the information necessary to ease his worry. "I do not think that any of us are in any immediate danger. For now we will leave it, but let the men know they should be on guard."

"Yes Sir."

~~`~~

Spike, Buffy Dawn and Michelle all headed for the commons area. Classes were out for the day, and there was an hour before the last bell would ring.

Randall had appeared earlier looking worried while sprinting throughout the commons speaking to several of the off duty guards.

It was time.

Spike settled himself down into a chair with Dawn beside him. Michelle sat across from him. Buffy crept near the main door decked out like she was going on patrol. When Dawn saw that her sister was in place, she began her part of the plan. "So Spike, whatever happened to Darla after Angel got his soul?"

"Well Bit, that's a good question." Spike said a bit too loudly. The children in the vicinity turned and began listening. "You see, China was giving off vibes to Dru. She smelled blood in the air. You know the drill, stars were dancing, pixies were whispering." Spike rambled on about Dru and her visions.

Buffy watched as her love continued his story. The children were naturally drawn to the stories of Vampires. Many of the teens and children knew that they were supposed to walk over, but even those who had no clue of the plan, did just that. Soon Spike was encircled several layers deep in young hungry ears.

Buffy watched when Randall walked out, and she followed unnoticed. The twists and turns through The Council's headquarters were familiar by now, but she not only didn't want to get lost, she wanted to remain unseen as she followed Randall.

She crept around corners, and ducked into darkened rooms. Soon she was only two halls away from Randall, and her destination.

Quietly, she slipped behind a door, and closed it so that a crack was left open so she could easily see into the hall. When the two men exited The Council Head’s office she kept silent waiting for her moment.

"It's bad enough we have to put up with him being here at all." She heard Quinton say as he passed her hiding place a few minutes later while walking with Randall. "But to turn his vicious life into some perverse fairy tale?"

Buffy peered out, and saw the men turn a corner. Quickly she went to Mr. Travers's office door. With a practiced ease, she slipped the two thin pieces of metal into the lock, with little effort, the heard the door unlatch. Move number one that Spike had been teaching her seemed to work like a charm.

She looked behind her once more to make sure the hall was clear before she slipped inside.

When the door closed behind her, she stood up and began looking behind portraits, lifting books off of shelves, anything that might reveal a hidden door, or safe.

Nothing.

She walked over to the desk and ruffled through the few folders on his desk. One read "Summers, Buffy" She snatched it an looked through it quickly. They were a doctor's notes from her blood test. She was sure, but she couldn't make them out. She slipped the folder inside her jacket.

Buffy walked around the desk and opened the top drawer, then the next, then the next. Nothing else was there. Trying to remember places secret buttons were hidden on TV and in the movies, she felt under the desk. Nothing.

"Oh come on Travers. Something keeps you up here." She flopped down on the chair and pushed it backwards with the force of her fall.

A vague memory of spinning in a chair ran through her mind, but she couldn't for the life of her place the memory. Deciding that the missing pages were not in a secret safe, she pushed herself off of the chair and felt something strange under one of the arms. She ran her fingers under it again, and pressed the small protrusion.

Suddenly, the wall behind her began to lift up off the ground. She turned carefully in awe of what was revealed. "Well that's a little too James Bondy, but ok. Sure, why not?" Then her eyes caught sight of not just the safe, but the screens above it. "Oh, my, God."

She watched as Giles took notes at his table, Xander and Anya had their dinner, Tara and Willow were looking over some of the books, and talking. Luckily she couldn't read any of the gold script on the books. The resolution just wasn't good enough. "He probably does think we're all helping Giles. Idiot."

"Now for the really hard part" She said when she looked at the safe. It was the kind Spike had told her about. She had practiced on Anya's little safe she’d brought for her money while Willow ran the lap top’s recorded image of Buffy watching TV.

It wasn't hard to hear the mechanism behind the thin layer of metal used for the shop keeper’s lockbox, but Anya had also lent Buffy her stethoscope when they remembered how thick the doors on a real safe would be. No questions were asked as to why Anya had a stethoscope, mostly because no one really wanted to know.

Buffy sat cross legged in front of the little safe, lifted the stethoscope into place and turned the knob slowly. One tumbler fell, and made a small 'clink'. She turned it back slowly, a second tumbler clanked. One more slow turn..."Damn, passed it!" She held her hands out and shook them to relieve the tension.

One deep breath, and she lifted her hand up and turned the knob slowly. Once again, the first tumbler clicked into place. Slowly, and with as much concentration she could muster, she turned it back. 'Click.'

She bent her head to hear even more closely. She exhaled slowly, then turned the knob.

'Click.'

Buffy pulled the latch, and the door swung open easily. She saw the small number of items in the safe. She noticed the old and worn papers, and pulled them out carefully. There were 3 pieces of paper that obviously fit into the book with missing pages, and a thin scroll. She unrolled it, and read quickly. "Oh yea. I think I need this too."

Buffy pulled the papers out from under the back of her shirt and placed them in the safe. She had no replacement for the scroll, but an idea came to her.

After she arranged the papers in the safe, she closed it, and let the wall fall with a press of a button. She made sure all of the newly acquired information was safely hidden inside her clothing, and made her way out Quinton's door. She heard voices coming back through the hallway and ducked into the room she had hidden in before.

She waited, but it seemed to take forever for Quinton to make his way to his office. His voice became louder and louder. Buffy found herself standing inside the room hands over her ears to block the screams. Then as soon as it started, it stopped. His voice was quiet as he approached, and passed her. Buffy shook her head, trying to fight the echoes in her head.

"What the hell?" She asked herself

After a few minutes, she was sure she was clear and she slipped out the door, down the hall, and past the portraits of generations of Watchers. When she reached the more familiar Slayer filled halls, she relaxed.

"Miss Summers!"

''Crap.'' Buffy muttered, then turned back to Randall. "Hello Randall."

"Where have you been Miss Summers?" Randall slowed, and began walking with Buffy as she headed back to the living quarters.

"Oh, Spike and his stories. I've heard them all."

"Unfortunately, Quinton has revoked his patrolling privileges because of his story telling. Up until now he had no problem-"

"What do you mean, revoked?"

Randall took a step back. "Well, Miss Summers, revoked means that something given has been ta-"

"I know what it means. I mean what makes him think he has the right?"

The young Watcher was confused by her question. "He is The Head of the Council, Miss Summers."

Buffy looked at him stunned. "Is that all that matters Randall. Is that really all you see?"

"Of course not, he is a great man. He has given all he has to The Council."

Buffy shook her head and walked ahead of him. "Lemmings."

The lanky brunette stood dumbfounded by her response. This Slayer was nothing like he had ever known. She questioned, she wondered, and she was impure. Randall decided one thing was more true than ever. "She's dangerous."

Randall's crush on her was broken, she was no Slayer. She was no representation of a Slayer line. Her blood tests had said as much. The young man turned around ,and walked back to Mr. Travers office. Whatever needed to be done, he wanted to help.

~~`~~

Buffy strolled through the commons area and to the lift with her hands in her jacket's pockets, the signal that everything went as planned. Before she reached the elevator, the last bell rang. The small space was soon filled with people heading to the floor of their homes.

The lift made it's many stops before reaching her floor. Nothing could be said to the few children in on the plotting because of the adults on the lift, but a communication was not needed. The first part of the plan was done.

Until the information could be deciphered, and the pieces put together, there was little more that could be done by the children. Now it was time for them to practice patients.

Buffy stepped off of the lift, and walked to Giles apartment. The older man was set up and ready for a long night, as was the group. Willow had an old image of them all researching books playing as soon as Buffy walked in to hide the folders and papers they were sure would be recognized if Quinton happened to see the camera feed. That would be Buffy's first tid-bit to share.

"First off," Buffy said as she laid her jacket over the back of the table's chair, and deposited the folder and papers on the table, "Quinton is one sick puppy." She sat in her seat. "He has all of the feeds from our places going right to his office. The whole thing is behind a false wall on the other side of his desk."

"Ewe." Dawn groaned.

"Ditto." Willow agreed.

"Second of all, Will, you need to look over this, see if you can make sense of the medical stuff."

The red head reached across the table. "What is it Buff?"

"Blood tests. Mine."

Her friend's eyebrows went up. "Oh." And she began trying to make sense of the notes the doctor had made.

Buffy held out the scroll for Giles, "I'm guessing you'll know what this is."

Giles took the aged parchment and read through it, then laid it down carefully. The man then leaned down, his demeanor had become almost frantic, and pulled his small satchel up then tore the lining out.

"That bad, hu?" Xander said surprised at the usually mild mannered man's actions. They all watched as Giles took yellowed papers from the inside of what was left of his satchel.

He laid them out, and fit the scroll between them. A missing piece that now connected all 3. Then he looked up at Buffy, then to Spike. "It's the missing prophecy, the missing script of Akoshta."





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